This Belfast-Set Netflix Comedy Is Suddenly Everywhere—What to Know Before You Hit Play
- - This Belfast-Set Netflix Comedy Is Suddenly Everywhere—What to Know Before You Hit Play
Ben MundFebruary 15, 2026 at 7:30 PM
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Photo by Ian West - PA Images on Getty Images
Netflix’s How to Get to Heaven from Belfast built the kind of fast buzz that you usually see from salacious true crime series or even franchise tentpoles. Instead, this is a Belfast-set dark comedy with a mystery at its core. It's funny up front, but an uneasy undertone, and that combination is exactly what’s pushing it up watch lists.
The series follows three women (Saoirse, Robyn, and Dara) who haven’t been close in years. They reconnect after learning that a former classmate, Greta, has died. The early parts of the show keep everything grounded with old resentments and unresolved guilt popping up. But the show doesn’t stay in reunion-mode for long. It begins to probe what actually happened in their shared past, and why each of them remembers it differently. If that sounds a little like the 'adult' time-shift in Showtime's 'Yellowjackets,' it is. But much funnier.
In a way, How to Get to Heaven from Belfast uses the comedy and awkwardness as misdirection. The jokes are great, then the story quickly shifts to something more suspicious, like a comment that doesn’t add up or a recounted story that seems possibly rehearsed. Upfront, it seems a like character comedy while steadily building a question the show doesn't answer quickly; what are these women protecting, and from whom?
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Lisa McGee, the creator of Derry Girls, writes with the same sharp, specific dialogue, but the tone here is more adult. The friendships aren’t sentimentalized. The affection is real, but it’s tangled up with competitiveness, shame, and the lingering desire to control the story of 'who we were.' For viewers who loved Derry Girls for its warmth, the appeal is familiar; for viewers who want a darker hook, this series provides it without turning into a grim slog.
As with a lot of Netflix shows, it’s built for fast viewing. Eight episodes, each roughly 50 minutes. The pacing keeps adding new information every episode but still gives the trio space to feel like full characters and explore the comedy. And just like Derry Girls, the setting (this time Belfast, obviously) impacts the show’s humor with details that definitely make it feel authentic.
The cast anchors the delicate balance between sharp comedy and growing unease. Roísín Gallagher, Sinéad Keenan, and Caoilfhionn Dunne form the central friendship that drives the show, even when the characters are lying, dodging, or talking around the thing they clearly don’t want to discuss.
Trying to decide whether to start? You can expect a dark comedy with a mystery at its center, and a first episode that lays out the relationship fractures clearly before the bigger questions begin.
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This story was originally published by Parade on Feb 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
